Bush beats back another mutiny over Iraq

For all the hearings and dramatic speeches, for all the votes and news conferences by House and Senate Democrats – and some anti-war Republicans – President Bush is still getting his way on the war in Iraq and will likely continue to, at least until September.

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, summed up the stalemate in Congress over Iraq this way at a news conference Thursday:

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“The story is that after all of the bluff and bluster and after all of the political machinations and the efforts to use the [2008] defense authorization bill for the political purposes that have been described here and the purpose of undermining the mission of our troops, at the end of the week, we're left where we were at the beginning – namely, we support the president's policy, we support [Army] Gen. [David] Petraeus' mission and we support the efforts of our troops.”

“And not a single vote has undercut that mission or that support.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who remains a strong supporter of Bush’s policy in Iraq, added this assessment: “I am encouraged, because everything that I wanted to see defeated has been defeated. So, there's winners and losers in wars. There's winners and losers in politics, in sports. And as far as I'm concerned, Gen. Petraeus and the troops have won because we beat back efforts to stop their ability to change the situation on the ground.”

The House approved another withdrawal measure Thursday, but it is not likely to survive the Senate. And if it does make it to the president, he already has vowed another veto.

Three Senate Republicans – Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Gordon Smith of Oregon and Olympia Snowe of Maine – now back a Democratic plan to pull most U.S. troops by next spring. And Republican Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana, Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and George Voinovich of Ohio are also questioning the Bush war strategy. Still, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) has been unable to crack the magic number of 40 to cut off debate and force votes on withdrawal or pullout proposals.

Reid is even further from getting to the number of 67 supporters for Democratic proposals, which is the margin of support he needs to override any Bush veto of a withdrawal or redeployment plan.

“There are too many people bearing the burden of this war in Iraq, and there are not enough senators who are willing to stand up and face the president and say, ‘Enough is enough,’” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) lamented Thursday.

Reid, Murray, and other Democratic leaders then sent another letter to Bush criticizing his conduct of the war, dismissing the “interim” July report on progress in Iraq – and questioning his failure to accept intelligence reports from last November that the situation in Iraq is “irreversible,” according to the Washington Post.

“The time to do this is now, not September,” Reid declared Thursday, referring to proposals to begin a U.S. pullout. “We're told good progress is being made – ‘Wait until September, good progress is being made.’ How many times over the last four-and-a-half years have we heard this? Too many to number…Well, good progress is not being made. I'm calling on my Republican colleagues to not just say the right thing, but vote the right way, so that we can give our troops the strategy they deserve.”